Captain Pauline Gower of the Women's Air Transport Auxiliary 1941

Ethel Léontine Gabain made this drawing of Captain Pauline Gower with what looks like charcoal or a soft pencil, building up tone with hundreds of tiny marks. It’s a really interesting way of making an image – a slow, considered method that values process. I like the textural contrasts in this piece. The face, hands and clothing are rendered with a soft, blurry grain that gives a real sense of depth and weight. But then, the plane itself is depicted with a series of sharp, bold lines that cut across the composition. Look at the area around the hands, where the lines of the plane meet the soft, smudgy texture of the gloves. It’s a beautiful contrast, it almost feels like the artist is drawing with two different hands, and that they are describing two very different ideas of space. For me, this image echoes the work of Paula Rego, whose drawings and prints also achieve emotional intensity through tonal variation and layered mark-making. Ultimately, both artists demonstrate how simple materials can be used to create artworks that are deeply atmospheric and full of feeling.